Aurora set to impose arrest processing fee
It's apparently well-known among those who have to turn themselves in on arrest warrants that Aurora does not charge a processing fee.
And while not a deluge, the out-of-town traffic is severe enough to prompt the city to consider a $50 booking fee.
The Aurora Police Department processes an average of 11,431 arrested people each year during the past three years, The city's reputation for not charging to get photographed and fingerprinted brings extra work for the department's staff, Lt. Keith Cross said.
“Currently this cost is being absorbed by the city,” he said. “This obviously puts another undue burden on our resources.”
Aldermen are expected to approve an ordinance Tuesday, Sept. 27 that will implement a $50 administrative fee for individuals who are arrested and processed by Aurora police.
“We should have been doing this the whole time,” Alderman-at-Large Richard Irvin said.
Arrestees would be required to pay the $50 fee when they post bond, Cross said.
But if a person can pay his bond, and not the extra $50 fee, Aurora police cannot keep that person in custody. The fee then would become a debt the person owes the city, which can be pursued through a collection process.
Alderman Rick Mervine said he was concerned about getting the money owed from the new fee because collecting debts also comes with a cost.
“We incur extra costs going after that and we may not collect it,” Mervine said.
The $50 fee already does not cover the entire cost of booking a person who's been arrested, which Cross estimated at $66 — the amount it takes to pay two employees for an hour's work completing the necessary paperwork and providing security.
But statutes set $50 as the maximum that can be charged for an administrative fee, Police Chief Greg Thomas said.
The idea of charging a booking fee first was brought up by the police patrol officers' union last year during budget discussions. Alderman Stephanie Kifowit said it's good to see the city taking action on what the union suggested as a possible revenue source.